Protest as Tour of Belgium riders demand better safety

By Julien Pretot PARIS (Reuters) - Tour of Belgium riders staged a protest ahead of the fourth stage on Sunday, asking for better safety conditions after Belgian Stig Broeckx went into a coma following a crash caused by motorbikes. "The riders started the stage after a few minutes' delay to show their pre-occupation over safety in races," read a statement from the riders' association (CPA). "CPA and AIGCP (group of professional teams) demand that new measures ... are implemented faster." Broeckx, who competes for the Lotto-Soudal outfit, is in a coma after two race motorbikes caused an accident on the third stage on Saturday. His team have since quit the race. In March, Belgian rider Antoine Demoitie died after being hit by a motorbike during the Gent-Wevelgem one-day race. The International Cycling Union (UCI) ruling body said it had "recently introduced strict new rules governing the conduct of motorcycle riders in races" and that they would "be looking very closely at what happened ... to determine whether those rules were respected." Leading German rider Tony Martin said: "What we need now is a round table with UCI, race organisers and riders to force changes and decide one safety standard for every race." (Editing by Tony Jimenez)